The present invention relates specifically, but not by way of limitation, to an effective method for readily detecting the presence of enterotoxigenic bacteria in biological samples. Presently, methods available in the clinical laboratory for detection of enterotoxigenic bacteria are cumbersome, time consuming, often impractical for effective diagnostic usage.
Enterotoxigenic bacteria, most commonly strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, are a major cause of diarrheal disease. Such enterotoxigenic E. coli strains elaborate at least two toxins, one of which is heat-labile and is immunologically related to the enterotoxin of Vibrio cholerae in that antibody to the V. cholerae enterotoxin cross-reacts with the heat-labile E. coli enterotoxin (see e.g. Yolken et al., J. Clin. Microbiol., pp 439-444, Nov. 1977).
The present invention comprises a series of readily performed steps to elucidate the presence in biological samples of enterotoxigenic E. coli producing heat-labile enterotoxin. Said steps provide a method utilizable in hospital laboratories for rapid diagnoses in the aid of effective treatment of diarrheal disease. While it is acknowledged that the individual steps of the present invention are representative of procedures known to those skilled in the art, the unique combination of said steps in the manner prescribed herein presents a significant technological advance in this field of medicine.